All Time

Sunday, June 29, 2014

[CASCAIS] Go to Hell

So
you’ve finally arrived in Lisbon and you are feeling down and blue. You are
alone. You don’t know anyone in the city. You feel so depressed. You’ve had
enough of awesome grilled fish. What would be your best option? Lisbon has many
tourist attractions worthy of your time and money, but the best tip I have for
you is to simply relax and unwind. Or you could always go to hell.

No,
I don’t hate you. All I am trying to say is that the mouth of hell is located
in Cascais and the good news is that it is less than an hour away from Lisbon
by train. Don’t worry this is not a one-way trip to meet Satan. You can always
catch a bus going back. As to why the locals of Cascais have decided to refer
to such a cool attraction as the “Mouth of Hell” I really have no idea. It is a
cliff, but it does not look like hell to me. Anyway, welcome to one of Cascais’
main tourist draws, the Boca do Inferno.

Cascais
is popular because of its beaches and its proximity to the capital. Tourists
and locals alike love to spend time here after dealing with the history and
culture overload back in Lisbon. But I’ve already been to Algarve, and I am
pretty hard to please when it comes to beaches. This is why I decided to just
ditch the beach and go to hell, but not before I had my daily dose of good
pasta. Yum, yum!

From
Lisbon, take a train from Cais do Sodre to Cascais. Comboios de Portugal will
charge you around 5 euros for a round trip ticket and it takes around 40
minutes to reach the beach. I have not confirmed if this is true but I guess
basing from experience, it is; the all-day ticket for the Metro is not honored for
the train going to Cascais so don’t bother buying one.

Once
you arrive in Cascais, you would then have to find the bus going to Boca do Inferno.
It might be confusing at first, but you will find your way. I did! But then
again, pasta comes first. The train station is close to the beach so it is not
uncommon to see people in beachwear, although there were few when I was there
because the wind was rather chilly. As mentioned, I ignored the beach and went
to Cabo da Roca. Okay, this means we go back to Sintra for an hour or two.

Cabo
da Roca is another cliff but with a better reputation. It is considered to be
the westernmost edge of continental Europe, meaning if you fall down the cliff
you would be left to battle the waves of the Atlantic on your own. Who knows,
you might just end up on the other side of the ocean. Hello, New York! The
thing is, if the Titanic failed to do just that, you probably would too. So no
jumping off the cliff, please! Cabo da Roca is part of Sintra, but almost
always included in tours of Cascais because it is just nearby.

Yes,
we will still go to hell, okay? Excited much. Cabo da Roca is just a mini detour. Take
Scotturb bus 403. It won’t take half an hour to reach Cabo da Roca. The bus
trip is not that boring because you will be treated to generous views of the cliffs and
ravines where you would end up if the driver turns out to be suicidal. There
are buses plying this route on an hourly basis, and you could catch another
Scotturb bus from there to go all the way to Sintra if you have not done the obligatory
palace hopping just yet.

There
is nothing much to do at Cabo da Roca apart from admiring the scenery. The wind
might give you the chills so dress appropriately. Do not push tourists off the
cliff. I know they are in the way of that perfect landscape photo, but let’s
try to be a bit more diplomatic here. There is an obelisk thingy with a cross
on top, and you would have to contend with how many tour buses of East Asian
tourists to get a solo picture. Be patient, you’d eventually get your turn.

After
taking gorgeous photos of the cliff and the ocean, it’s time to go sunbathing
somewhere because it could get quite cold here. What, I saw a Chinese guy doing exactly that on the grass! Keep yourself warm while
waiting for the bus. There is a restaurant in case you feel sudden pangs of
hunger but given that it’s the only restaurant in the place, I assume it would be
overpriced. There is a souvenir shop by the way, but nothing really special there unless you can read Portuguese. To go to hell, you would have to go back to Cascais first to catch
another Scotturb bus.

The
bus going to hell is Scotturb bus 427 and it takes around 20 minutes from
Cascais. If you had to spend 3.25 euros one way to go to the westernmost point of
Continental Europe, be glad to know that it only takes a euro to reach hell. A
euro and 20 minutes, sounds like a real bargain to me! Once you get off at your
stop, you would be greeted by shops and food stalls aplenty. Buy yourself a
sandwich or two before going to hell.

The
Mouth of Hell has a lot of big rocks and couples engaged in blatant PDA. The place
seems more like a good location to shoot scenes for a mermaid telenovela rather
than the end of the world. The waves are not even that wild, for crying out
loud. Whoever named the place must have been very depressed, on drugs, or just hated
the locality that much to come up with such a flattering moniker.

So
which cliff is the better choice? Well, I’d choose Cabo da Roca anytime because
it has a more majestic feel. I don’t know why, I simply can’t explain it. Boca
do Inferno seems all plain to me, neither repugnant nor breathtaking, but still
worth your while if you just want to chillax and be emo. The Mouth of Hell also
has more choices when it comes to food given the abundance of shops by the
entrance. It is closer to Cascais too! But yeah, in terms of scenery, Cabo da
Roca wins.

The
bus ride going back to Cascais introduces you to its beaches, and the tourists
that infest them. The beach quality does not seem on par with the awesome ones
I’ve been to. I mean, Algarve will win this contest hands down. But then again,
it is that relaxing atmosphere that matters when you go beach hopping, and I believe
Cascais has that feature, along with the apparent azulejo addiction that the
Portuguese have.

You
go back to Lisbon via the same train you took earlier. That means another 40
minutes of rail travel for you. Staying overnight in Cascais is not necessary.
Chances are, you would find cheaper accommodations in Lisbon, and with just 5
euros to spend on a roundtrip train ticket, going on a daytrip would be your best
option.

Sorry
to disappoint you but no, you won’t see Satan at Boca do Inferno. :(